Creighton CIO Named National IT Leader

Brian Young, Creighton University vice president for information technology and chief information officer, has been named one of the nation’s top 25 chief technology officer’s (CTO) by International Data Group’s InfoWorld, a leading information source for technology solutions that impact business.

The award honors senior information technology executives who have demonstrated leadership within their companies and in the information technology community. Young is the only CTO from a higher education institution as well as from Nebraska to receive this recognition.

“The diversity of challenges that a CTO faces was very evident in this year’s InfoWorld CTO entries. But what was common across the 25 CTOs we chose…was a combination of management savvy, technological insight, and the ability to lead a team to success even in difficult circumstances,” said Galen Gruman InfoWorld executive editor for news and features. Winners include CTOs from Coca-Cola, Allstate, Revlon, and MySpace.

Decision makers cited Young’s innovative efforts to support the university’s academic, student-focused and health-care environments as a best practice. A campus-wide calendar application developed by in-house talent and adopted by the entire University is a solution now being marketed to other colleges and universities.

Since joining Creighton in 2003, Young has built a nationally recognized wireless campus and IT environment. He has published extensively on information technology, serves as a news source for trends and issues in the field, and holds several technology patents for innovative applications.

A member of Creighton University’s executive cabinet, he also serves as board president for Nebraska Public Television and Radio and the chairman for the Douglas County –Omaha Technology Board of Commissioners. He is a member of the Nebraska Governor’s Educational and Tele-Health Network Task Forces. He has also served as executive director of communications and technologies for the North American Secretary on Human Rights.

This is not the first time Creighton has been recognized for its IT environment. In 2007, Computerworld, ranked the University as one of the best U.S. workplaces for information technology professionals.